Broken Promises
by KurenoxArisaxx
Summary: They had sworn to spend all of spring break together. Alas, that was never meant to be. Yukari mourns over Minato's death on the same rooftop they shared the promise on. (Based off of PS2 game ending)


_**Disclaimer: P3, the characters, and the storyline belong to Atlus. Nothing is mine. **_

* * *

"_Let's spend all break together...okay?"_

"_Okay." _

Yukari broke from her thoughts and looked up at the cloudy sky over head. The entire day had been a complete overcast; Mother Nature threatening to rain any moment. The Persona user had ignored the warnings from Junpei and the others; to not go up to the roof when the weather was looking bad. She gave no care to them and went up anyways, as she had desired to ever since that day. That day they all ran up to the roof to find Aigis and their leader sleeping on her lap.

At least they thought he was sleeping.

Sadly, only a week after the final fight in Tarturus had taken place, Minato Arisato had passed away. The medic who had performed a small autopsy had said his body had been totally exhausted by the end that it just couldn't take anymore and his heart gave out in the end. And just like that; the boy that the members of SEES had spent an entire year with, got to know, spent happy and hard times with...gone.

Never again would he return to them. He would never walk through the doors of their dorm again. He would never be seen standing up in class to answer a question or leaving school for the day with a friend. He would never flash that usual poker face at them as he once did. Minato Arisato was forever erased from their lives.

It was so ironic...and so very cruel.

Yukari's brown eyes darkened to a gray color that reflected feelings of anger, angst, confusion; but most importantly, heart-break.

A low roar could be heard from up above as the clouds readied to let the rain fall to the earth; fitting well with the emotions that stirred inside the Takeba daughter. Ever since the funeral, she had been trying to sort out her emotions. Unfortunately, she had been unable to. For Yukari, it seemed impossible. Even if she were to somehow sort out her emotions, it's not like that would bring him back to her. It didn't matter. Nothing did anymore.

The teenager honestly couldn't care less if shadows rose up from the ground at that very moment and annihilated everyone in their school. _**  
**_

Yukari leaned forward and buried her face and body into the chain fence. She clenched her fingers between the silver lining and gritted her teeth together hard; more thunder rumbling all the while.

"_What's the matter? You're up here all alone."_

The Persona user sighed at hearing a sudden voice that was not truly there. Ever since she had learned of Minato's death; she'd had hallucinations of him here and there, especially whenever she'd be on the verge of a break-down. Mitsuru said it would probably happen for a little while, but in time the hallucinations would disappear.

Disappear...just like the real Minato.

"_Are you crying?" _

Yukari opened her shut eyes and glared down at the school yard where the track team was practicing. Her lifeless orbs never once widening or thinning as she watched various events of students cursing, playing, horsing around, and so on.

"Reminds me of how Stupei and Kaz used to act around him..." She mumbled, shutting her eyes again.

If she were to answer the delusional Minato, she would easily tell him no. She wasn't crying. She had cried. But no more. She had cried more tears in those past two weeks than she had in her whole life. She hadn't even shed that many tears when her father died. Yukari figured that she was at a point now where she just COULDN'T cry anymore. She had cried her entire being dry. And just like her tears, all of her emotions, feelings, and even her spirit was drained from her. Now she was no more than a lifeless zombie. If it weren't for Fuuka and Mitsuru, she probably wouldn't have even bothered getting up in the morning nor going to school. But they forced her.

It still didn't matter though.

"_This isn't like you." _Came the soft, fake voice behind her.

"...don't care..."

"_You know, I'm the one who died. Not you, Yukari." _

She opened her eyes again, and felt a rain drop finally splash on her head. A light drizzle began to pour all over Japan and its inhabitants. A few minutes passed and the hallucination tried to speak out to her again. Yukari didn't answer.

"_...You should get in, out of the rain. Otherwise you'll get sick."_

A small smirk appeared on Yukari's face as she lifted her head back to feel the rain clash against her face.

"Sick, huh...Perhaps if I get sick, maybe then I'll die too."

The delusion went silent.

Death. It was indeed very cruel. But it was only in death that one could finally be free of pain and sadness. Minato had died. Why shouldn't she do so too?

Yukari pushed on the metal fence hard, wishing it would break so it would give her to opportunity she wanted. To stand on the ledge of the roof and let her feet fall over the edge. And end it all. End all the pain. End all the agony she couldn't cure herself of. It would only take a moment. To just let herself go...

"_What's happened to you...?" _Minato's fake voice broke through the sound of the pouring rain, _"It's as if you're a totally different person. I'm sure the others wouldn't be happy if they saw you like this. So dead inside...having such terrible thoughts. You aren't the Yukari I fell in love with." _

At last, the woman rotated her body to look at the hallucination before her. She stared dumbly at him. It was indeed Minato. Blue hair, crystal eyes, a black uniform...the same poker face. Still, it wasn't the real one.

"That's funny because you aren't the real Minato either. Not the Minato I fell for."

"_Real or not, I'm still here."_

Yukari's stare intensified into a glare.

"Shut up. You're not here. Mitsuru-senpai said it was just hallucinations. It's all part of the shock I still feel from losing the real Minato so suddenly..."

The delusion began walking, looking down at the wet ground, _"...I'm sorry."_

Yukari's eyes widened slightly as she tried to turn away from him again. She froze and waited for him to continue.

"_I didn't know for sure if that's what would happen after the fight. I was prepared for it though." _ The fake Minato stopped and looked towards her, _"I had to die for the rest of the world to survive. That includes you and our other friends." _

Yukari lowered her head and her bangs fell over her eyes. She turned her back towards him again and watched the rain continue to fall, longer and harder with each minute. More thunder rumbled and soon, lightning began to flash in the sky.

Suddenly, Yukari felt the imagined presence place his hands on her forearms gently. She cursed at herself and her hallucinating mind. Why did she have to have such delusions? It only made the pain of losing him worst.

"_I'm sorry for breaking our promise." _

Yukari shut her eyes and thought back to three weeks ago.

**~Flashback~**

"_Only a week until the final fight..." Yukari looked at her feet; anxiety reflecting from her face back at her boyfriend who sat beside her on the roof. She had gone over the final fight in her mind a thousand times and she still was unable to rid herself of the bad feeling she had in the pit of her stomach. _

_Then again, Yukari always got nervous before a shadow fight. It had been like that from the start. _

"_Everything will be fine. We'll get through it." Minato stated in his usual monotone voice._

_Yukari's hazel eyes wandered over to the blue-haired teen. Her eyes narrowed a little as she stared at him._

"_Don't try to do everything on your own, Minato-kun."_

"_Aa, I know."_

_Silence filled the air once again. Silently sighing to herself; Yukari looked back at her feet. She then lifted her head and noticed some birds flying freely in the sky. Today had been quite peaceful. More peaceful than the other days had been. It had been a while since she'd gotten any time to herself and Minato. With more shadows than ever as well as the preparation for the fight against Nyx; things had been very busy and very dark. _

_But for once...it was peaceful. Birds flying above, a clear sky, sun shining. For once in what seemed like years, it was a perfect day. _

"_Yukari." Minato's voice suddenly broke through the silence, causing Yukari to snap from her trance._

"_Hai, Minato-kun?" She asked, forcing a nervous smile to hide her embarrassment for zoning out._

"_Spring break starts about the time that the final battle will be over..." He began, removing his headphones and turning to face her, "Wanna spend the break together?"_

_A light pink color dusted itself across the female's cheeks as she felt one of his hands place itself over her own. She smiled lightly and nodded fast._

"_Sure. That sounds like fun..."_

_A rare smile of his own appeared on Minato's face, "...Good." He turned away from her and removed his hand, "Then it's a date."_

_Yukari's grin fell when she saw him pick his headphones back up to put them back in. Without thinking, the Persona-user grabbed hold of his wrist; preventing him from putting in the earplugs,_

"_Minato-kun."_

"_Nani?" He looked to her with a blank look._

"_...Aishiteru." Yukari's blush intensified and she tightened her grip as a result, "...a-and thanks for the invitation." She released his wrist and turned away from him, "That's all I wanted to say."_

_At that moment, the lunch bell ring; telling the students it was time to return to class. Sighing, Yukari rose from her seat and began walking towards the door. However, her movement was immediately stopped when she felt two arms wrap around her waist and a chin rest on her shoulder._

_Yukari looked out of the corner of her eye at SEES leader,"M-Minato-kun...?" _

_Said man hugged onto his comrade harder and pressed his lips to one of her ears. A chill ran down Yukari's spine and she suppressed a shiver._

"_...I promise we'll spend all break together. Just the two of us."_

_Yukari's expression softened from surprise into adoration,_

"_...Aa. I promise too." _

"_Aishiteru yo, Yukari." _

_A snort escaped the woman, "...Copycat." _

**~End Flashback~ **

Yukari opened her eyes again and buried her head into the chain-link fence again.

"You did promise...actually, we both did."

The imagined Minato walked up to stand beside the girl; a light glow resonating off of him. He also placed a hand on the fence.

"_If I could have figured out a better way for that to end, I would have. But..." _Minato let out a quiet sigh and shook his head, _"...I can't say anything else other than that I'm sorry."_

At that moment, Yukari saw a bolt of lightning strike right down in front of them; barely missing the fence. Her eyes widened a little but quickly returned back to normal size. She gripped the fence hard until she felt blood dribble down her wrist.

"_Please stop torturing yourself. It won't do any good." _Minato placed his fake hand on her real one. She quickly snatched her hand away and scooted a few inches from him.

"Be quiet..." She turned around and froze when her eyes focused onto the bench near the roof's middle. The same bench Aigis had been sitting on that day; Minato's lifeless body on her lap.

Another bolt of lightning struck closer to the roof top and Yukari felt something inside her crack like glass.

"...Break has already passed by."

Minato turned and stared at her, _"...I know." _

Yukari slid down to her knees. The hallucination walked over to her but stopped when he noticed her body was trembling all over.

"...You say you're sorry...?"

Minato remained silent but nodded.

Yukari let out a light chuckle.

"You're wrong to apologize. And you're wrong for doing something so stupid that it got you killed."

"_Yukari..."_

"I'm the one who should apologize."

The fake Minato's crystal eyes grew large, _"You...?!" _He leaned down and extended a hand to brush against her smooth hair, _"I'm the one who hurt you and the others. It wasn't fair of me..."_

"I'm the one who should say I'm sorry...because in the end, even though you had done so much for me...I couldn't protect you."

Another bolt of lightning struck down; the temporary light showing the imagined Minato the tears that had finally formed and began streaming down her face once more. Just as they had done at his funeral.

Just as the dead SEES leader was about to speak; Yukari began pounding her fist into the floor, and continued to do it until her knuckles were gushing blood.

More lightning and thunder continued throughout Japan and the rain poured harder as if a typhoon were well on its way.

Yukari brushed bangs away from her face and felt the tears cease flowing down her cheeks. She looked up at the hallucination and smiled painfully,

"Even if you aren't really him, I can't help but spill my guts..." She drew her knees up to her chest, "I haven't even told the others this..."

Minato floated beside her and sat down, _"When you said you couldn't protect me...What did you mean by that?" _

The smile grew more pained, "Simple. You died because you took on everything in the last fight yourself. I couldn't do anything to help. And you died, so I couldn't protect you."

_"That's what you think?" _Strangely, the fake Minato began chuckling to himself.

Yukari looked over; her smile falling into an annoyed frown. She glared harder at him as his chuckle turned into a laugh. Once he stopped, she tried to hit him but her hand went through his solid-less body.

_"Yukari, I don't think you really give yourself enough credit." _The deceased man looked over to the woman and smiled a warm grin that reminded Yukari of the one he had shown her the day they made their promise, _"You've always protected me. From the very day we met. You've always made an effort and you've always been there for me when I needed someone." _

The thunder ceased and the lightning grew dimmer.

The shadow fighter felt her heart clench tightly at his words. What was he talking about? She never really protected him. From day one, she had been shown how weak she was and how she couldn't protect him. If he hadn't used his power of Persona that first day they met, he would have died sooner as she couldn't even fight to save him back then either.

Yukari buried her face into her knees, "...You're wrong, Minato-kun."

His lips curled up a little at hearing his name, _"No, Yukari. If it weren't for you..." _The imagined man drew his arm around her shoulder and somehow pulled her close; despite that his body wasn't solid, _"I wouldn't have been able to fight for so long. And I wouldn't have been able to make such a tough decision if it weren't for knowing you."_

She didn't raise her head but continued to listen.

_"You gave me a reason to fight, to keep on moving and living here. Whether or not you believe it, you did protect me. You made me feel welcome from the start and to the very end, you showed me how great love can be. You protected me and my happiness I gained when I was with you and the others. And after it all..." _Minato brushed her head aside to place a gentle kiss on her cheek.

Yukari looked over at him when she somehow felt the kiss from the man who was suppose to not be real.

He smiled more lovingly at her at that moment then she had ever seen when Minato was alive. She could feel tears brimming her eyes again and suddenly, the rain stopped.

_"I decided it was my turn to protect you." _The stoic teen wiped the corner of her eyes where tears had formed. He looked up at the sky when the sun suddenly appeared from behind the departing clouds above them and shut his eyes peacefully, _"Even though it was the hardest decision I had to make, I don't regret what I did. Because I died with the fact that I had been able to protect you, to make sure your life would continue...so that one day, you could be truly happy." _

Yukari's voice had been stolen from her. She choked back more tears as she tried to push away from the now all-too-real delusion beside her. When she saw him stand up, she noticed the sunlight was focused down on him; as if it were a spotlight. His smile fell and his eyes saddened a little.

_"...Ah...so it's that time already, is it..." _

"T-Time...?" She managed to speak, trying to stand up herself but failing. He turned back to her and smiled warmly at her again. A shock went through her body at a sudden realization came to mind. The delusion before her was, in truth, no delusion or hallucination at all.

_"I can never atone for breaking my promise, Yukari. For that, I am very sorry..." _The light shining on him brightened and he leaned down to tilt her chin up with his thumb, _"But please...be happy. Don't give up on life. Keep moving forward in this world. Continue to be the strong girl I fell in love with."_

Suddenly, Minato's figure began to vanish into the light that shone onto him. Yukari unthinkingly reached out a hand when he removed his from her and tears began pouring down her face once more.

"D-Don't..."

Water instantly streamed down the vanishing teen's face as he held his smile. Minato took a step back; half of his figure already absorbed by the light.

_"Please Yukari...go on living. And remember..." _

"Minato-kun...!" The sobbing warrior forced herself up from the rooftop's floor and ran towards her vanishing boyfriend. She extended her arm again, silently pleading him not to leave.

The light intensified and Minato's face became transparent. As Yukari touched his cheek for only a second, he shed a few more tears and his smile grew,

_"Aishiteru. Always and forever. Goodbye...koi." _

The sudden name made Yukari's heart shatter to pieces. _  
_

"MINATO...!"

At that, his face and body totally faded and the light dimmed. Yukari stood there, staring at that place had just been. Once again, he was gone. And now this time she was sure it was for good.

"Minato..." She fell to her knees again, "Minato...!"

"Yuka-tan?"

The teen looked up to see a very concerned Junpei, Akihiko, Fuuka, Mitsuru, and Aigis standing in the doorway of the rooftop's entry. The girls immediately walked over to their hurt friend's side.

Fuuka placed a comforting hand over one her comrade's, "We were worried about you. We've been looking all over for you, Yukari-chan."

Mitsuru pulled out a tissue from her pocket and dabbed the younger woman's cheeks gently, "We all missed class to search for you."

Yukari stared at her friends in dis-belief. She looked to each of them, recognizing the look in each of their faces. It was a look that reminded her of Minato. The same one he had on his face right when he had appeared.

"You all...did that...just for me...?" Came the surprised voice.

Akihiko nodded, scratching his head, "Of course we did. Why wouldn't we?"

"We know how upset you've been lately, Yuka-tan." Junpei leaned down in front of her and tried to grin, "We were scared you were gonna end up hurt in the state you've been in."

Yukari's eyes shined as bright as the stars, "G-Guys..."

Aigis walked over and suddenly pulled the girl to her feet. She hugged onto Yukari in comfort, "We wish for you to be happy again. So we will do whatever needs to be done in order to make that happen, Yukari-san. That it why we searched for you so thoroughly. To find you and do what we can to make you feel better."

_Be...happy... _

Yukari lowered her head, causing her hair to shadow her face. The other SEES members immediately became worried again.

"Yuka-tan?"

Akihiko stepped towards her a little, "Y-You okay...?"

Fukka hugged onto Yukari along with Aigis, "Yukari-chan..."

A small whimper escaped said girl's lips. The others exchanged confused looks and their eyes widened when the whimper suddenly turned into full-blown loud laughter.

"W-What the...?" Junpei sweat-dropped; watching the weird grin Yukari suddenly had on her face.

"Takeba? Please, calm yourself...What in the world..." Mitsuru looked to Akihiko who just shrugged in slight fear.

The laughter subsided and a light sigh replaced it. Yukari's eyes lost the darkness that had filled them for weeks and an unusual happy smile glossed itself over her lips, "Thank you, everyone. I mean it."

"Wait. Are you...?"

"Stupei." Yukari joked and elbowed Junpei in the side as she walked towards the door. She looked back and grinned widely, "Come on, guys. We have to get back to class before our teachers get mad."

As they watched Yukari walk out the door, each one of them was baffled beyond belief.

"What the hell just happened?" Junpei asked, dumb-founded.

Mitsuru frowned, "I...I'm not sure. Aigis? Yamigishi?"

Fuuka shook her head at her senpai. Aigis, however, returned a smile of her own.

"I believe she has finally risen out of her state of depression."

"Apparently..." Akihiko rubbed the back of his head; his grey eyes still on the doorway.

As Yukari walked down the school stairs into the third floor hall, she wiped her puffy eyes and let out a light chuckle. She hadn't really expected her friends to come looking for her during class. And she certainly hadn't expected to see Minato again.

"Whether you were just a delusion or if you were his ghost..." Yukari stopped to look out a window to see the sun shining bright and a rainbow floating over-head the school, "Thank you...Minato-kun."

He had broken their promise to spend all break together. He had died without any warning and had left behind the one who had loved him dearly. But by breaking their promise and vanishing from the world; Minato Arisato had not only saved the entire human race, but he had also given his life for the woman he loved. All for the sake and hope of her happiness.

* * *

_**Author's comments: I apologize dearly for the rushed/bad ending. I tried to make it as happy as possible but I think it turned out so cheesy.  
**_

_**I'll be honest...when I was writing the part where Minato's ghost was vanishing and Yukari was trying to tell him "Don't go", I cried XD I seriously began crying when I was typing that part up. The heart of a fangirl can be dangerous sometimes.  
**_

_**Despite the depressing nature of this, I hope you all liked it. I did my best to keep everyone in character. Please review and let me know what you thought. **_

_**Terms to know!**_

_**Koi- Term of endearment in Japan. Usually means "love". **_

_**Aishiteru- Japanese word meaning "I love you"**_

_**Hai/Aa- Means "Yes" **_

_**And for those who played the game, you should know what each honorific means. **_


End file.
